http://ktisis.cut.ac.cy/handle/10488/950 Search the Channel search http://ktisis.cut.ac.cy/simple-search http://ktisis.cut.ac.cy/handle/10488/4852 Title: “Another brick in the WALL”: Wiki Assisted Language Learning in ESP university courses<br/><br/>Authors: Yerou, Christina; Hadjiconstantinou, Stavroulla<br/><br/>Abstract: In an effort to achieve high competence in languages, the Cyprus University of Technology (CUT) offers courses of English for Specific Academic Purposes (ESAP). These courses are tailored to the academic and professional needs of the students of the ten departments of the university. Furthermore, English courses offered at the university are designed in such a way as to combine face-to-face instruction with a CALL component, in other words blended learning. Such practice has been shown to promote student autonomy and empowerment. ICT tools incorporated in the courses were, among others, Word processing and presentation tools, the Internet, and YouTube.In a recent evaluation research study conducted by the Language Centre (LC) of the university, students identified the use of the aforementioned ICT tools as extremely essential in their learning especially because these can be used to cater for their most important needs. For example, “searching the internet for information” and “reading and understanding online material in English” were identified as two of the most needed skills by the students, who found that these were covered in their English courses. The results from the study confirmed that ICT skills such as using online dictionaries and preparing presentations were greatly improved through CUT English courses, which demonstrated that the ICT component was a big asset and one which could perhaps be exploited even further. This led us to consider the integration of wikis in our courses.Wikis were chosen due to their great potential educational value, which has become apparent in the recent years. Besides, they combine multiple applications and tools already used in CUT courses. This paper will show samples of ESAP wikis through which the benefits and challenges of this web 2.0 tool will be discussed. Reflections of students on the use of this revolutionary tool will be presented. http://ktisis.cut.ac.cy/handle/10488/955 Title: Curriculum development: designing, implementing, and evaluating an ESAP course for students of the Department of Agricultural Sciences, Biotechnology and Food Science at the Cyprus University of Technology<br/><br/>Authors: Kakoulli-Constantinou, Elis<br/><br/>Abstract: This paper deals with the design, implementation, and evaluation of an ESAP (English for Specific Academic Purposes) course for students of the Department of Agricultural Sciences, Biotechnology and Food Science at the Cyprus University of Technology (CUT). The students were all first year Greek-Cypriot and Greek university students having passed an EAP (English for Academic Purposes) course in the first Semester of their studies, which focused on general language and academic skills. The whole curriculum development process is revealed and all the stages of the development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the language programme are described. More specifically, the context is set, the techniques which were followed for analysing the learners’ needs are described, the aims and objectives determined are mentioned, the content and tasks as well as the materials developed are described, and the techniques used for evaluating the course are also set out. Despite the fact that the students were all native speakers of Greek, the effort was to design a curriculum which had a multi-cultural dimension in terms of certain topics and tasks. Therefore, in many cases students had to investigate and report the situation in other countries of the world, e.g. prepare PowerPoint presentations about agriculture in different European countries, investigate and classify the types of cattle which exist in different parts of the world etc. Even though this ESAP course was successful, curriculum renewal and change is always necessary after the completion of any educational programme. Thus, the paper finishes with suggestions about how the curriculum for the specific course can be renewed. Special emphasis is given on the process of needs analysis, which should become more comprehensive for better results. In this way a more effective setting of aims and objectives, selection and grading of content, materials development and teaching practices can be achieved. http://ktisis.cut.ac.cy/handle/10488/953 Title: Curriculum development: Re-designing an ESAP course for students of the Department of Agricultural Sciences, Biotechnology and Food Science at the Cyprus University of Technology through more comprehensive needs analysis processes.<br/><br/>Authors: Papadima-Sophocleous, Salomi; Kakoulli-Constantinou, Elis<br/><br/>Abstract: Curriculum renewal and change is always necessary after the completion of an educationalprogramme. The review of all the components comprising a curriculum and the effort to makethem more efficient undoubtedly leads to more effective learning. After the completion of a sixmonth ESAP (English for Specific Academic Purposes) course for first year students of theDepartment of Agricultural Sciences, Biotechnology and Food Science of the CyprusUniversity of Technology, the need for curriculum renewal was sensed. A fundamental role incurriculum development is that of needs analysis especially in the development of ESP / ESAPcourses. Thus, it was determined that for better results, and based on a semester courseimplementation and results, a comprehensive needs analysis procedure should be followed forits improvement for the following year. In the context of this more inclusive analysis, theresearchers decided to investigate the views of the students of the course, professors of theDepartment of Agricultural Sciences, Biotechnology and Food Science of the University, aswell as professionals in the three fields (Agriculture, Biotechnology and Food Science). In thisway more effective setting of aims and objectives, selection and grading of content, materialsdevelopment and teaching practices would be achieved.